Homeward Bound
by InsomniacFoxxo
Summary: Hey, look! It's... another... soul bond fic. But don't worry, this one will be different from most. Unique powers, realistic interactions, and more! All for the low, low price of making GrumpyShark feel like he actually did something worthwhile for once! For real, though, this is a HarryxGinny soul bond fic that I hope to make be lighthearted, but realistic. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out this fic! I really appreciate it! However, I do have a few things to clarify before we begin. 1. Yes, this is a soul bond fic. I realize that this genre has been done quite a bit, but I'm going to try and make this as unique as I can. 2. There will likely be elements from other soul bond fics in this story, whether intentionally or accidentally. If this is the case, just know that it's because the other authors got it right when they did it, and their idea fits into my story well. 3. This is going to be a lighthearted fic. There will still be a serious plot, but humor will be sprinkled in. I'm really not a huge fan of angst. 4. I am also going to attempt to make this story as realistic as I can. If two preteens are bound together by their minds, there's no way they just fall in love immediately. One of the main reasons I'm writing this fanfiction is because I have seen very few other fics that have truly made me think "that is how Harry and Ginny would act." The one I did find was left unfinished. Anyways, thanks for reading this monologue! Without further ado, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: While I am in the process of attempting to acquire the Harry Potter rights, I haven't succeeded yet. It seems they've placed a secret keeper charm on the building where they're kept. **

"Ginny!" Harry yelled. He had just stabbed the evil diary with the basilisk fang, but Tom Riddle wasn't going down easily. Harry saw a black, ethereal tendril come out of the diary and shoot towards the unconscious redhead. It seemed to latch onto something within her and start pulling. The tendril started to retract, dragging something bright red with it. _Her soul,_ Harry realized. Tom was trying to take Ginny's soul to save his own, but Ginny's soul seemed to be resisting! Harry glanced around furiously, trying to find something, anything, that could help.

His eyes latched onto Gryffindor's sword. Harry had no idea if it could do anything against the tendril, but the legendary blade was his best shot. He ran over to the body of the basilisk and pulled the sword out, stumbling a little in haste. _Come on Ginny, hold on! Just a little bit longer! _Harry thought desperately. The black tendil was getting stronger by the moment, while Ginny's connection to her soul was weakening.

Harry ran as fast as he could over to where the fight for Ginny's soul was happening. As he raised the sword to make a downward swing, Harry heard Tom cry out. "Harry, wait! Don't swing that sword! I'll give you anything you want! Money, power, anything! Just don't swing!"

Harry turned and coolly looked at Tom. "Sorry, Tom," he responded, "but you can't buy your way out of this one." With that, Harry swung right at where the tendril was grabbing Ginny's soul. Tom screamed and leapt at Harry, but to no avail. He, and the tendril, disappeared as the diary burst into flames. With that problem solved, Harry turned towards Ginny. He was surprised when her soul, now floating, split in two. His confusion turned to dread as the halves began to move. One of the pieces flew back into Ginny, but the other began to move towards him. Harry barely had time to react before it hit him, and he started to feel woozy. Harry barely saw a piece of green fly out of him and into Ginny before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Up in Dumbledore's office, the headmaster glanced up sharply, and a grave look formed on his face. "Albus, what is it?" Molly Weasley asked. "Did something happen?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure what." Albus replied. "What I can tell you is that there were just two bursts of magic nearby. The first one was big, but the second one... I haven't felt anything with that sort of power since the 1920's." Arthur and Molly paled. "We can only pray that everything's alright." At that moment, Fawkes the phoenix appeared on Dumbledore's desk, gave a loud cry, and took off. "Fawkes found them!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Follow him!"

The headmaster and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were standing in an instant, and they took off running. They followed Fawkes to the second floor girl's bathroom, where they found a giant hole with steps leading down to the bottom. At the bottom, the group found Ron standing next to a very dazed-looking Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart saw Dumledore and spoke. "Well hello there! Is this your home? If it is, then you should do some cleaning up! You could get snakes down here, you know!"

Ron just sighed wearily. "Professor Lockheart tried obliviating Harry and me, but apparently my broken wand made the spell go wonky and he obliviated himself. He's been saying nonsense ever since. The spell also made the tunnel cave in. I've been trying to dig past the rocks to get to Harry, but I haven't made much progress."

Dumbledore nodded and flicked his wand. The rocks all exploded into dust, leaving the way clear. "You may rest, Mr. Weasley," the headmaster said to Ron, who nodded. "I daresay you've earned it. Now Molly, Arthur, let's go find your daughter." The three made their way through the recently cleared tunnel. They all gave a collective gasp when they rounded a corner and were greeted with the sight of a large cavern with a statue, the body of a basilisk, and what appeared to be some sort of book. Most importantly, though, they saw Harry and Ginny lying in a heap on the ground, both unconscious.

"My baby!" Molly exclaimed, rushing forward. Once she got to her daughter, however, the Weasley matriarch noticed something odd. There was a black streak in Ginny's hair, the exact same color as Harry's. Looking over, she saw that Harry also had a red streak in his hair, the same color as Ginny's. She brushed her thoughts aside, however, since she was more concerned for her daughter's health. Molly felt a massive surge of relief as she felt Ginny's neck and found a pulse. She quickly checked Harry and found that he, too, was alive. She called out to Dumbledore. "Albus, the kids are both alive, just unconscious!"

The headmaster breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if Harry had died under his care. Using a levicorpus spell, Dumbledore levitated the two unconscious preteens. As they floated up, he noticed what Mrs. Weasley just had: both children had streaks of hair that matched the other's. "Most curious," Dumbledore muttered to himself. "Most curious indeed."

Molly and Arthur trailed behind Dumbledore as he made his way up the staircase and towards the hospital wing, watching nervously as he levitated Harry and Ginny in front of him. When they finally arrived and both preteens were safely in beds, both Weasley parents breathed a sigh of relief. Madam Pomfrey busied herself by applying various salves and solutions to Harry's many, many scrapes and bruises. She tutted at each new one she discovered, but refrained from speaking until she was done. "What happened, Albus?" she questioned, addressing the headmaster. "Some of these wounds are quite severe! Nothing life threatening, but certainly worse than any boy should be receiving at the age of twelve!"

"He fought a basilisk, Poppy." Dumbledore responded, making Madam Pomfrey stop and stare. "Killed it, actually! Young Harry never ceases to amaze me. We'll have to get the full story when they wake up, but I suspect that there is more to the story than that."

Mrs. Weasley quickly jumped into the conversation. "Speaking of that, when will they wake up? Will my baby be okay?"

Pomfrey quickly glanced at Ginny before responding. "They'll likely wake in the morning, and yes, Ms. Weasley will be fine. It seems Mr. Potter suffered the brunt of the injuries, although your daughter still has a few that may require my attention. I'll tend to them shortly."

The rest of the day passed relatively quietly, albeit the asking of nonstop questions by the Hogwarts students. Arthur returned to the Burrow, since he had work the next day, but Molly decided to stay in the ward until Ginny woke up. A few students, including Ron and Luna, stopped to visit Harry and Ginny, but were disappointed to find both students still unconscious. Madam Pomfrey began to work on a cure for the students who had been petrified by the basilisk. Throughout the whole thing, Mrs. Weasley sat by Ginny's bed vigilantly, watching and listening, waiting for her only daughter to wake up.

**Okay, what do you guys think? I know that that was basically the way that every one of these fics opens, but it's really the only place that makes sense to have a soul bond form. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you thought, if I made any mistakes, or if there's anything you would like to see. All the best, ~Shark**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello again! I have a few things to say before this chapter starts. One: Dumbledore will be a genuinely good force in this story. He won't be a manipulator with a hidden agenda, just a powerful wizard trying to help Harry (and Ginny) in every way that he can. Two: I need your guys' help with a decision. I can either continue to do short chapters like this with faster updates, or longer chapters that will make the story flow better, and have more content. Which one should I do? The choice is up to you guys.**

**Disclaimer: I found out that the secret keeper is J. K. Rowling. Obvious choice much? Anyways, while I am going to attempt to acquire the Harry Potter rights, they still belong to Rowling. For now.**

Memories flew by without rhyme or reason. A Christmas, spent joyfully with laughing family members. A birthday, spent locked inside a bare, stiflingly hot bedroom. Helping Mrs. Weasley cook breakfast, laughing whenever a slight mistake was made. Vernon Dursley, red-faced and angry, yelling about overcooked bacon. Then, more recently, a Halloween happily spent with friends. A school year, tainted with petrified students and fear. A diary, always there, always waiting to listen, not giving away it's true nature. Gradually, the memories began to fade as Harry drifted closer and closer to consciousness. His eyes snapped open, and he quickly realized that he was in the Hospital Wing.

Harry thought about the "dreams" that he had had. Some of the memories he recognized, but other ones seemed to belong to someone else. _Ginny? _Harry wondered. She was the only Weasley he hadn't seen in any of the memories. He nearly fell off his bed when he heard someone answer.

_Wh- who said that?_

Harry looked around furiously, looking for the source of the words, and noticed Ginny lying in the bed next to him, doing the same thing. Harry was hit with a wave of worry as he saw the youngest Weasley. _Is Ginny alright? Oh man… if something happened to her I'll-_

His train of thought was cut short as the voice answered. _I think I'm fine, but everything hurts. Who's asking? _It was at that moment that Harry remembered Ginny's soul splitting in two, and a piece of what he assumed to be his own soul flying out of him and into her. That voice… it must be her! They were speaking telepathically somehow!

Harry looked over at her and thought _Ginny, this is Harry. _Ginny's head immediately snapped over to look at Harry, and he saw that her eyes were open wide in shock.

"Harry," Ginny said physically rather than telepathically. "What happened? What's going on?" After their mental conversation, it was almost strange for Harry to hear someone speak out loud. Their conversation, however, was interrupted when Molly Weasley woke up.

"Ginny! Oh lord, we were so worried!" Mrs. Weasley stood up from the chair that she had dozed off in and gently hugged Ginny, making sure not to touch anywhere that was injured. "We found you two down in that Chamber, unconscious, and I was so worried! Thank heavens you're alright!" She broke off the hug and turned to address Harry. "And Harry, dear, thank you. I don't know what I would have done if Ginny had been killed!" She lightly hugged Harry as well. "Now, I need to go tell Dumbledore that you're awake! I'm sure he would like to speak to both of you." Mrs. Weasley bustled down the hallway, and Ginny and Harry turned their attention back to each other. As he looked over at Ginny, Harry noticed something odd. She had a streak of hair running down that was the exact color of his hair. As he noticed this, Ginny spoke in his mind again. _Harry, you have some hair that's red instead of black. What happened down there? _With shick, Harry looked at one of the mirrors across the room and noticed that he did, in fact, have a little bit of hair that was fiery red, rather than the normal jet black. He took some time before responding.

_Ginny, I think we have part of each other's souls. _Ginny just stared at Harry.

_Souls?_

_Yes. After I stabbed Tom's diary with a basilisk fang, some sort of weird black tendril came out of it and reached into you. It grabbed onto something inside you and started to pull. I think Tom was trying to use your soul to save his own. _Ginny gasped. _I used Gryffindor's sword to cut the tendril, but for some reason your soul didn't go entirely back into you. It split into two pieces, one of which came flying into me. That's where I went unconscious, but I'm pretty sure that a piece of my own soul came out of me and went into you._ As Harry told the story, he unconsciously sent the images of his memories as well.

"So now we can-" _speak mentally? _Ginny queried, shifting from physical speech to telepathy in the middle of her question.

_I guess so._ Their conversation was interrupted yet again as Dumbledore strode into the ward.

"Young Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said. "it is nice to see you awake!" Then, turning to Ginny, he addressed her as well. "And Ms. Weasley! What a coincidence that you two should awake at the same time! Now, first thing's first. I suspect you both are hungry?" Harry hadn't realized how starved he was until Dumbledore said something. Both preteens nodded furiously, and grinned when the headmaster summoned some breakfast foods with a twinkle in his eye. After a few minutes, once they were done eating, Dumbledore spoke again. "Now, Harry, what happened down in the Chamber of Secrets? Nobody but you knows the full story, and we need something to calm everybody down."

Harry told Dumbledore everything that had happened, but he hesitated when he got to the part about Ginny's soul, and he looked over at Ginny for confirmation. She nodded, so Harry took a deep breath and told Dumbledore about severing the tendril, half of Ginny's soul entering him, and part of his own leaving. Once he was done, Dumbledore sat for a few seconds in shocked silence. Finally, when he spoke, it was with great care and concern.

"Harry, I'll be honest, I have no idea what will happen. There have been a few cases in history of two people receiving small portions of the other's soul, but never anything even approaching half of the soul. I don't think either of you are in danger, but I need to do something real quick." Dumbledore pulled out his wand and whispered a spell under his breath. Harry and Ginny watched in shock as an orb rose from each of them. The spheres were a beautiful swirl of red and green, swirling violently. Dumbledore nodded, and the balls faded away. "It is as I suspected. That was a spell that is used to look at the condition of the soul itself. Normally, it is one color, although it may be different shades. In you two's case, however, it seems your souls have thoroughly mixed. They're still swirling rather quickly, which I believe indicates that they are still trying to find a way to fit with each other. For now, though, have you and Ginny noticed anything yet? Aside from the hair, that is."

Harry nodded and responded by telling Dumbledore about the telepathy. Dumbledore nodded. "Telepathy is typical for these types of bonds, although I've never heard of being able to send memories. It is more than likely that we will see more new things as the bond stabilizes. I would like you to notify me if anything does arise. For now, though, I believe I had best be getting back to Molly. She is still waiting in my office, and I believe that this is something she should hear. Don't worry, I can fill her in. You two should rest." Harry nodded and watched Dumbledore's back as he receded.

Once the headmaster was gone, Harry resumed his mental conversation with Ginny. _A soul bond? What does that even mean? _The two continued talking and speculating until they both fell back asleep at the same time.

**A/N: Alright, that was chapter two! I promise more exciting things will be coming in later chapters! For now, though, I'm more focused on setting the stage. Thanks for reading, and please review!**


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